HEALTH AND SAFETY

Farms have to comply with health and safety laws and have a responsibility to make sure, as far as possible, that people working on or visiting the farm are in a safe environment. In practice this means you’ll want to ensure that your business:


 * Conducts regular risk assessments (see below);
 * Keeps a log book to record accidents;
 * If necessary, has signs pointing out hazards;
 * Provides toilets, hand washing facilities and drinking water;
 * Keeps the main access points clear of tools and machinery;
 * Has a system in place for routine inspections and testing of equipment and machinery and for ensuring that action is promptly taken to address any defects;
 * Ensures staff and volunteers are trained in safe handling/use of substances and their safe storage;
 * If necessary, provides inductions and/or training to staff and subcontractors;
 * Ensures users of the farm are aware of fire-fighting equipment, and fire safety procedures;
 * Has a first aid box which staff, volunteers, and if applicable - members - know where to find;
 * Has contact numbers and address / directions for closest A&E services in a clearly accessible place. It’s worth investigating the local hospital services in advance to be certain of the kind of injuries they are able to treat; and
 * At least one of your staff or volunteers is trained as a first aider.

For the most up to date information on Health and Safety on farms and useful guides and checklists go to the Government website If you have five or more employees, you need to have a written health and safety plan or policy. If you are applying for grants, particularly if you want to work with children, many funders will also require you to have a health and safety policy in place. Although it is not a legal requirement with less than five employees, given that farming is a hazardous occupation, it is best practice to have a Health and Safety policy, whether you are applying for grants or not. Health and Safety law requires that all employers or the self-employed assess their own risk, and the risk to anyone working for them, regarding their working environment. The risk assessment will only need to be written down if you employ 5 or more people, however as with the plan/policy, it is advised to do so in any case, especially in agricultural situations where potential risks are high and their consequences severe.

This is Canalside Community Food’s Health and Safety policy document: https://www.canalsidecommunityfood.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Canalside-Health-Safety-Policy-January-19.pdf

This is Sutton Community Farm’s Health and Safety policy document (and risk assessment): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mrH2HRldOVNjFo4USZIwtWz2_rMDgYlPKwepNXPBvIM/edit

You can find some examples of health and safety policies adopted by other farms by searching online.

Risk assessments
Risk assessments should be carried out at least twice a year for each specific job and whenever circumstances change significantly, for instance changes to site layout, introduction of livestock or new activities for volunteers or visitors. You should have at least two people carry out risk assessments as people perceive risk differently. You need to walk around the farm identifying potential risks, e.g. fire hazards, trip hazards, or risks of injury.

A risk assessment should be an on-going process and reviewed regularly, especially if anything changes or if someone spots a hazard. It is important to keep the risk assessment up to date.

A risk assessment lays out the potential risks, how likely they are to happen and how to avoid them. Most of this is common sense, but having it down on paper will ensure you consider all the risk elements, how to avoid danger and how to give the right information to staff and volunteers on tackling each task. Don’t forget to take the weather into consideration. Wet and slippery ground can cause different hazards and risks when working on hot, exposed sites in a heatwave.

You will need to have a log-book accident book to record any accidents and review these in the risk assessment process to prevent recurrence or minimise known risk factors. An Accident Book is an essential document for employers and employees, who are required by law to record and report details of specified work-related injuries and incidents. It enables businesses to comply with legal requirements under social security and health and safety legislation, including Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) requirements. A copy can be bought via the HSE website by following this link. You can find templates and examples of risk assessments on the Health and Safety Executive website for all types of farming, for example using machinery: hse.gov.uk/agriculture/topics/machinery/riskexample.htm

A separate risk assessment (or update of your existing documentation) is required under Covid-19 regulations to make your farm a “Covid-secure” workplace – compare https://www.hse.gov.uk/coronavirus/working-safely/index.htm

Moss Brook Growers have made their risk assessment available to download: http://www.sustainweb.org/pdf/MLFW_MossBrook_Appendices.zip

Volunteers
All volunteers should undertake a health and safety induction. They should also have a briefing at the start of each session and new task, pointing out the particular hazard, despite how regularly those volunteers may carry it out. Basically, don’t forget about it. You may work on the farm daily but volunteers and visitors to the site don’t! Avoid the temptation to take short cuts and make sure all equipment is in good working order. Some farms ask their volunteers to sign a disclaimer. Accidents do happen, despite your best efforts. So make sure you have adequate insurance in place (see Insurance section) and that you can show you did all you could have reasonably done to prevent them happening (this is called “due diligence”).

Children and vulnerable adults
Many farms serving the local community welcome children on site. If you do, it’s sensible to insist that they be under the supervision of a parent or appropriate adult at all times up to a certain age. Children are less aware of risk and more likely to have accidents, so you may need to write a risk assessment specifically aimed at reducing risks for children on site. See the farm through their eyes and address hazards they might encounter.

If you are running lots of sessions for schools or pre-schools, you may need to put in more safety measures to protect them, e.g. fences around ponds. The same applies to vulnerable adults, so you may need to ask some people to be accompanied by their carers at all times.

See the Resources section for links to more information.

Fire safety
You must carry out a fire risk assessment at your premises and take fire safety precautions to help protect you, your staff and customers. The type of precautions you need to take will depend on the outcome of the fire risk assessment. In many cases, farms pose a higher fire risk, as they will often store flammable materials like hay and straw, and fuel for machinery. If you are planning to adapt your premises, it is a good idea to get fire safety advice before you start the work. You can get advice from your local fire authority. For more information, see the fire and explosion pages of the Health and Safety Executive website.